[ale] (no subject) SPAM talk...

[ChangingLINKS.com]

> > A good solution is to simply use a database to match a member ID to the 
email 
> > address. That way the server can direct emails to the authors, while NOT 
> > displaying the email address for spam harvesting.
> 
> So now the spammers have to extract the member ID and script up a
> duplicate web form and spam the entire list anyway.
> 
> There is NO TECHNICAL SOLUTION 

James!
Do you really believe that a spammer will come to the ALE (out of the millions 
of sites on the Internet) and take the time to learn our system, create a 
form to trick our server into sending emails to our >1000 members?

Well, to solve that problem, we can use the graphic challenge solution:
ex: http://www.marketleap.com/publinkpop/default.htm
While I feel that is OVERKILL . . .
. . . the solution certainly trumps the problem you cited. 

Moreover, assuming there was such an obsessed/ineffective spammer - the fact 
that he could get our email address list is NOT a reason to support giving 
*any spammer with a harvester* our list freely.

You're right - there's no technical solution, after all a spammer could:
1. simply HACK the ALE's server and get the email addresses that way. 
2. also pay an admin to release the data. 
3. go to ALE meetings, collect email addresses personally and spam them.
4. research the poster via the archives and in Geoffrey's case, find that he 
posted on a similiar insecure mailing list, retrieve his email from there, 
and spam Geoffrey.
-- 
Wishing you Happiness, Joy and Laughter,
Drew Brown
http://www.ChangingLINKS.com